Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152417
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
Deputies late Wednesday dropped pink paper ballots bearing only Gorbachev's name into sealed wooden ballot boxes in the ornate St. George's Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
The official result was to be announced today, but Gorbachev could lose only if more than half the deputies abstained or crossed his name off.
Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov and Interior Minister Vadim Bakatin had been nominated but withdrew.
The Congress of People's Deputies decided that it, and not the public, would choose the president after a respected scholar warned a nationwide campaign would lead to civil war.
"I remember the revolution of February [1917] very well, and I know where emotions can lead," said 84-year-old Dmitri Likhachev, referring to the revolution that ended more than 300 years of rule by the Romanov dynasty.
"Understand our conditions. Direct election of the president will lead to civil war," Likhachev said.
The Soviet Union is beset by ethnic strife, economic paralysis and strong independence movements that threaten the union. Lithuania declared independence Sunday and Estonia, Latvia and Georgia are moving in that direction.
It was clear many deputies believed a strong President Gorbachev would immediately take action at home with the same kind of results he achieved in foreign policy.
The new president is expected to speak about his plans after being sworn in today.
The presidency created Tuesday gives one person many of the powers now held on paper by a collective Presidium and held in reality by the Communist Politburo. The reform, along with the historic switch to multiparty politics, is part of Gorbachev's long-term plan to transfer power from the party to the government.
Gorbachev remains Communist Party chief, despite an attempt to force him to resign that job.
"The last thing we want is to combine the power of the state and party in one person," said deputy Boris Nikolsky, a Leningrad magazine editor, referring to the Soviet Union's history of murderous dictatorship.
But Likhachev said forcing Gorbachev to give up party leadership now, while its cells still control nearly every organization, could also lead to civil war.
Radical reformers complained Gorbachev ran roughshod over the rule book for the votes creating the presidency, eliminating the Communist Party monopoly, and legalizing private ownership of factories and hiring of workers.
They lost a vote Wednesday to reconsider the entire question, but succeeded in limiting many of the presidential powers. The most important change requires approval by either the republic's presiding body or the national legislature for the president to declare a state of emergency and supersede a republic's government.
The new president will have the power to propose and veto legislation, negotiate treaties, cancel decisions of the Council of Ministers, appoint a Cabinet, and declare war if the country is attacked.
The constitutional amendment that which called for a nationwide election except for the first five-year term needed a two-thirds majority, or 1,497 of the 2,246 deputies.
The final vote was 1,542-368, with 76 deputies abstaining. Hundreds did not participate, mainly deputies from Lithuania, Estonia, and Georgia who say they represent independent nations.
A popular national election would have been less certain for Gorbachev, not only because of its novelty, but because of Soviets' frustration with lack of progress in dealing with the country's economic problems.
by CNB